WEBVTT - Rum Champion 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:04.040 This is he said, a ya Vho with Eric Winter 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:08.880 and Rodalin Fantaz. All right, everybody, welcome to another episode. 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.000 And he said, he said, ayad Ho will be here 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:16.320 very soon, possibly even next week. She's coming home. Uh, 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:18.680 finally after all this time. So I'm going to continue 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:21.439 with my man Cave episodes here talking about things that 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:24.280 interest me in Today, We're gonna talk a bit about 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:27.960 rum Surprise Surprise, but not just my rum. Even though 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:31.600 I'm representing with Palm Republic here, I'm talking about somebody 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:35.559 else who is incredibly passionate about rum. I've learned so 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:40.360 much from this guy, Brian Inman, aka the Rum Champion 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:45.000 on Instagram and other platforms. Brian has become a friend 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:48.120 because of so much I've you know, I've learned about 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:50.760 his rum passions. But he works with tons of brands, 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:52.600 he works with a lot of people, and his soul 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:57.280 drive is to spread rum love to the world. So 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:59.480 let's go ahead and bring Brian in. I can't wait 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:01.280 to chat with him more about what got him to 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:07.080 this point. Brian, I already did an intro letting everybody 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:09.959 know who you are, but I just got to say 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:12.800 you know, to me, it comes a rum. You're the man, 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:16.560 the myth, and the legend. I mean, you eat, sleep, 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:21.400 breathe rum. I'm so thankful that we were able to meet, 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:24.160 and you know, I consider you a friend now on 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:27.759 this rum journey. But you have your own you know, 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:31.080 this is a passion all on its own that you've 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:33.479 built up and I can't wait to dive in more 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.200 on what got you to this point. But everybody, I 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:38.959 want to let you know. Like I said briefly, Brian 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:43.320 is aka the Rum Champion. He has an incredible passion 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:45.640 for rum. He even says, I drink rum and hang 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.400 out for a living. I mean nothing sounds better than that. 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:51.840 Look at that collection behind him, which is I know, 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:53.560 I've been there, I've seen the collection. This is just 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.520 a piece of what he has built out in his bar. Brian, 0:01:57.560 --> 0:01:58.320 Welcome to the show. 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:01.760 Eric, thanks so much for having me. I consider you 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:03.920 a friend as well. We've done some cool things together 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:05.640 and we have a few things in the hopper yet 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:07.360 to go, so thanks for having me. 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:11.160 Absolutely absolutely, and listen, I want people to know listen, 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.600 my passion obviously is Palm Republic. Brian works with tons 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.280 of brands. There's no he's not just sitting here going 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:19.280 I got to promote Probably no, Brian has a full 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.239 job working with RUMs. But you know, I think, I'm 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:23.880 I don't want to speak for you, but I know 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.640 you only you know you embrace RUMs that you're passionate about. 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:31.000 You know, it's obviously you can't nurture every every product 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:32.839 the same, but if you really believe in something, I've 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:35.240 seen you get behind it with other brands and everything else. 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:38.880 Am I am? I correct in saying that, Yeah. 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:41.280 One hundred percent to Champion Rum. I picked the name. 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:43.959 Anybody that's curious, it's not like the championship belt that's 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:48.440 legitimately Game of Thrones, rip Prince Oberin. But yeah, it's 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:51.880 it's finding RUMs that I'm really passionate about that might 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:54.880 not be represented in certain ways because rum eric, as 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:57.800 you and I have talked about, is a very underrepresented 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:02.040 and underappreciated spirit. So yeah, I get to pick the 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:04.600 brands that I believe in and then I promote them, 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:06.960 and it's pretty awesome. 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:09.160 Yeah. Now, let me let me go back a little 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:11.960 bit in your past. Were you always a rum drinker? 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:13.520 Because I'm the first one to say to people I 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:16.760 was not. I had to learn about this amazing spirit. 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:18.360 But were you always a rum drinker? 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.520 No, No, absolutely not. You know, growing up it was. 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:25.200 You know, there's nothing more manly than drinking bourbon or 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:27.680 single malt Scotch because James Bond drinks it, and I 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:29.480 want to be a man, and you know, that's what 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.280 we do, and that's what you know, societally we're supposed 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:35.400 to do. Obviously, there's a big push now for sipping 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:40.200 a gave spirits, et cetera. The reader's digest version of 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.920 this is during COVID. You know, my joke is, people 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:47.280 were making bread, some people were and I was deconstructing 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:51.240 tiaki cocktails. Always really enjoyed going to tiki bars. The escapism, 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.560 the cool mugs, the fanfare when you art, when you 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:58.760 order certain drinks, the bar reacts, and so it's an 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.240 ambience that kind of sucks you. So I always enjoyed that. 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:04.600 And then during COVID, I started deconstructing these cocktails so 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:07.680 for our lovely listeners that may not know, tiki is 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:10.880 really Caribbean inspired cocktails. And then there was a gentleman 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:15.000 who basically invented tiki here in Hollywood named Ernest Raymond. 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:19.560 Beaumont Gant aka Don Beach. But he revolutionized mixology because 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.000 he was split basing. So your base is your spirits. 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.359 So rather than two ounces of whatever rum, he'd do 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:27.000 an ounce of dark Jamaican rum and an ounce of 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.120 gold Porto Rican rum. And so me reading these recipes 0:04:30.120 --> 0:04:33.240 and making them at home, I started asking myself, well, 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.880 what's the difference for these Why are these two specific 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.599 RUMs called for in this? And then that got me 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:42.400 really interested in trying more RUMs by themselves, and quickly 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:45.919 realizing that everything I knew about rum was wrong, you know, 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:49.440 assuming that it was spice RUMs and you know, lime 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.640 flavored RUMs, et cetera. But that wasn't the case. And 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.320 so then I went way down the rabbit hole and 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:57.160 the rest is kind of history from there. 0:04:57.360 --> 0:04:58.640 You know, I think you said a couple of things 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:00.840 that just made me think about my journey with rum. 0:05:01.000 --> 0:05:04.400 And I know, for a lot of people, especially in 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:05.760 the States, I should say I don't want to go 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:07.440 to the Caribbean and Latin America, South America, you know, 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:10.479 Central America, they have a handle on rum for sure. 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.240 But in the States, you know, when I started drinking 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.359 it was Captain Morgan. It was Malibu. It was, And 0:05:16.360 --> 0:05:18.400 there's nothing against any of these RUMs. These are all 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:22.120 just different products with in a category. But people often 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:27.840 equate rum as spiced, sweetened, flavored, you know, that whole thing. 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.120 And when I was first exposed to it, it was 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:33.680 a boocardios you know what I mean, in Puerto Rico, 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.119 and it was with my you know now in laws 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:38.480 for the first time and going, wow, I'm drinking I'm 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:40.280 sipping this on the rocks. This is not how I've 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.920 ever thought of this spirit. And I enjoyed it. I 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:46.000 really liked it. Really, this is a complex you know, 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:48.039 it's a complex spirit like any of these other ones 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.320 that are on the market. Now, what I also found 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.200 fascinating and maybe even a little bit more unique, is 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:57.720 there are many distilling methods with rum that can change 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:00.159 the flavor and the notes and the profile of of 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.880 the spirit. Whereas agave spirits, you know, you're kind of 0:06:02.920 --> 0:06:05.800 locked into these same regions that do it, or the 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:07.919 one region that does it, but the same distilleries that 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:09.360 all make it, and they might have a little tweaks, 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:11.560 so they might add little drops of X, Y and 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:13.160 Z that they don't have to disclose to give it 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.719 a little hint of flavor, but they're all made the 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.440 same way, whereas with rum, you could be a pot still, 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:23.440 a column still, and it really changes what you're sipping on. 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:25.200 And a lot of people call it the funkiness of 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.000 a Jamaican rum or something like that. You know, the 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.440 way the pots still almost like a cognac, the way 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.480 it will go off the pro you know, the profile. 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:35.279 And I think it's something that people should learn to 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:39.120 know that. It's a lot of fun exploring RUMs on 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:41.320 the market. It's not just a linear. 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:46.240 Spirit correct, Yeah, I mean it's it's there's infinite possibilities 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:48.400 because there are no constraints. As you mentioned, rum is 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:52.960 distilled in ninety plus countries, so RUMs from Vietnam are 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.480 monumentally different from RUMs from Puerto Rico, and those are 0:06:56.600 --> 0:07:00.000 so different than Cane's uice rum that's coming out of Sicily, 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:02.839 which that's now hitting the US market. And then that's 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:05.640 even before you get into blending lovely RUMs together like 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:08.839 what Palm Republic and all of its glory and amazingness 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:12.880 is doing. So there's infinite there's infinite components, not even distillation. 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.520 It's how long are you fermenting? Is it short, fermentation, 0:07:15.600 --> 0:07:17.440 is it long? Where are you distilling? Are you up 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:19.840 in the mountains, are you at sea level? How are 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:22.200 you aging? Where are you aging? There's some distilleries in 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:26.160 the Caribbean that are actually aging their barrels underwater. I 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.840 think it's one of maybe Grand King or something like that. 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:31.760 So yeah, it's it's crazy. I've always kind of said 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:37.360 if you're an adventurous spirits appreciator, and never have I said, oh, 0:07:37.360 --> 0:07:39.640 you need to stop drinking whiskey or agave or whatever. 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:42.640 But if you're somebody that appreciates a good spirit and 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:46.280 appreciates the true marriage of passion and science with distillation, 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:49.080 then rum is absolutely something that you should stop sleeping 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:52.520 on because it's the wild West and it's glory and 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:56.239 it's amazing. And all I could say is be careful 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.160 because you might end up like me with seven hundred 0:07:59.240 --> 0:08:02.120 ish bottles of rum in your house. I don't recommend 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.480 it at all, but it's a rabbit hole for sure 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:05.640 that can take you down. 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:07.200 I'm still trying to catch up to you. But what 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:09.520 I you know, since I started getting, you know, into 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:13.200 this space of rum, I really appreciated the varietals that 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.400 are out there. There's so much to explore, like you said, 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.000 from different places, different regions. That was one of the 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:19.720 fun things about Palm Republic. And this is not an 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:23.280 episode about Palm Republic, it's about Brian. But one of 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:24.800 the things about us I just want to say is 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:28.840 we really wanted to blend a premium rum to be sipped. 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.400 We wanted to bring out many of the amazing characteristics 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:34.920 of different RUMs from different regions and put them into 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:38.480 a bottle. It wasn't to you know, blend to cover 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.440 anything up. It was like, let's let people explore the 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:46.240 differences of these different uh regions, Marcus distillation processes and 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.640 put them in one bottle and have someone go, Wow, 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:50.839 that's not what I expected. And I think, to your 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:54.880 credit what you just said about all different RUMs, many 0:08:54.960 --> 0:08:58.040 bourbon and whiskey drinkers are shocked right now, at least 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:00.240 in my experience, ones with Palm Republic, but even ones 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:02.960 on other RUMs. It's like, whoa, this is actually a 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:06.280 great alternative to branch out from my bourbon and my whiskey, 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:09.040 and even our silver or other silvers are a great 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:11.520 version of branch out from a tequila a block, you know, 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.640 it's they or or a vodka for that matter. It's 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:17.320 got a much better taste profile than a And I 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.200 love vodka on the rocks of the Lime. That was 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.840 my jam forever, Gray Goose Rocks Lion, that was all 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:26.920 I did, and having there is you know, the truth is, 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:29.199 vodka doesn't have a lot of flavor to it. 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:30.800 It's just correct. 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.880 Something you become accustomed to going. All right, I'll do 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:35.839 a little less Cranberry, a little less Red Bull, whatever 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:38.400 it is, and I'll eventually get myself to just the drink, 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:41.320 just the spirit. Whereas if you get into like these, 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:43.920 agave isn't especially like even the silver RUMs that are good, 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:48.080 there's a flavor profile that jumps out that's unique. Yep, 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:49.000 And I think it's fun. 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:52.000 It flips everything on its head. And so we'll stay 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.920 with Palm Republic for a second because it's it's awesome. 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:58.040 So I'm assuming many of your lovely listeners have tried it, 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:00.400 so that the cool thing about Palm Republic is one 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.240 the Jamaica component that you put into that really helps 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:07.880 carry and round out a very delicious sipping experience. The 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.240 other big piece that I have to commend you for 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:15.000 is being very upfront and unapologetic about unadulteration. You know, 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:17.840 there's a big debate going on in the rum world 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:19.120 of oh, should rum be adulterated? 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:19.160 It? 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:22.000 Should it not be adulterated? If it has sugar, it's awful. 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:24.679 There's a stylistic and cultural component to some of these 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.160 things where I think myself and a lot of people 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.760 end up is just be transparent. Are you putting things 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:32.160 in there? The fact that we don't have nutritional labels 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.880 on alcohol is crazy because you have not everything else. 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:37.959 But with Palm Republic, it's just that's a big differentiator 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.800 for you guys as leaning in and saying these RUMs 0:10:40.880 --> 0:10:43.920 are unadulterated, meant to be enjoyed. And the key thing 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.160 that you said, Eric, that I really like, which endeared 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:49.480 me to you very quickly, was just let's try it neat, 0:10:49.520 --> 0:10:51.680 because my mission is really just to get people to 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:53.680 sip things neat. And I'm not saying don't trink a cocktail. 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.280 Doesn't enjoy cocktails. I do all the time, But it's 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.640 really breaking the mold and the cycle and these perceptions 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:02.520 that people have with rum of there's either the when 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:05.080 I say, oh, I'm a Rum guy, it's the really 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:09.480 bad Jack Sparrow impersonation. Why is RUM gone? I'm like, yeah, 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:12.000 I don't know why it's gone, but I've earned that one. 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:14.520 Or it's I don't like Rum. What have you had? 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.640 Oh I had too much Captain in Cocain College, Or 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.320 it's pina coladas. So Rum, as always, as you've said, 0:11:19.320 --> 0:11:23.800 too been associated with sweet and tiki drinks themselves, are 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:27.640 very very sweet inherently so being able to bring to 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:29.960 market a rum that flips fit on its head, and 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.400 when you get people to try Palm Republic or other 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.760 amazing RUMs, Chairman's Reserve, four Square, et cetera, you see 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:38.640 kind of the lights of people's eyes kind of light 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:40.880 up and go, wait a minute. Everything that I thought 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:44.199 I knew about Rum is just I need to reassess 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:48.680 everything now because it's just always been sweet and we're 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:50.200 breaking them all together. So I love it. 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:00.920 That's one of the things that you know, even as 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:03.840 I've gone with this brand and meeting different people, they're 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.120 always the first assumption is, oh, I had a bad hangover, 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:09.000 and I go, you know what, I had a bad 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:14.080 hangover with tequila. Twenty five years ago, Tequila was garbage. 0:12:14.200 --> 0:12:17.680 You'd have a margarita or two or three and you're like, WHOA, 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:19.880 I feel awful because it was blended, it was full, 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.400 it was crushed eye, it was full of syrup and sugar. 0:12:23.040 --> 0:12:26.680 It wasn't the tequila. Well there to some extent, there 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:28.640 wasn't as good a tequila back then. There's a lot 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:31.960 better tequilas now, So to some extent it could have 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:33.880 been you know, a little bit of percent of the 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.480 tequila quality. But also it was the amount of sugar 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:38.160 in the way it was being consumed. But there's no 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.560 such thing as a skinny margarita back then. It was 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:44.280 just a slushy. It's like putting a slurpee in with alcohol. 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:46.640 You're gonna feel the effects and have a hangover because 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.520 the sugar, the amount of sugar having in it. Any 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:51.720 cocktail is going to affect you if it has too 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:53.640 much sugar, the sugar is what's giving you the hangover, 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:58.960 not the spirit necessarily. And I think with RUMs people 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:01.840 often go, well, isn't that made from cane sugar? I mean, 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.840 it's made from sugar, sugar cane, right, That's definitely a 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.960 full sugar beverage. And you know, and correct me if 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:12.680 I'm wrong, But agave is also a sweetener when you 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.040 take it. You have to take the agave like the 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:17.600 heart of the plant, and then they chop it up 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:19.880 and they boil. They get it all boiled and cooked, 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.160 and they turn it into a starch, which again is 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:24.679 a sugar. But the difference is when you distill it 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:28.200 and you bring the alcohol in and you take the 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:31.080 sugars out in the distilling process. And it's the same 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:33.760 with rum. Yes, it's coming from sugar cane, but when 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.160 you're breaking it down, you're fermenting it and you're distilling it, 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:39.600 a lot of that sugar is evaporating, going away and 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:43.120 leaving you with this alcohol product. Yep. And when in 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:48.040 the research I've done, funny enough, silver RUMs have about 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:51.599 the same or less even chloric value than silver tequilas. 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.040 It's about the same, it's not any greater. And when 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.319 you get into the age spirits, an age tequila, an 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.760 aged rum, or a bourbon, they're gonna have a little 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.720 higher sugar profile because of the barrel and the aging 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:06.480 and the sherry cask and all that. So you're bringing 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.840 it in the process for all spirits. It's not just 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:13.000 one made from caine. If you go to bourbons and whiskeys, 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:17.560 it's what wheat, it's graines corn also corn. Also what's 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:21.320 corn syrup an alternative to sugar exactly, So bourbon all 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.840 that's coming from corn. So it still all bases itself 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.800 out of like a sugary product, all of them. It's 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:29.240 just when you go through the process, that goes away 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:31.520 and you're left with an alcohol. So I want people 0:14:31.560 --> 0:14:35.120 to understand that because so many times people go rum sugar. 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:36.200 Yep, exactly. 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:38.320 It's not equal. It's not one to one. That's not 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:38.920 how it works. 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:42.400 Yeah, and I was doing an event at Kanya Rumbar, 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:45.640 which for everybody listening, if you are around on the 0:14:45.680 --> 0:14:48.280 tenth of December, come hang out with Eric and I 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.720 at Kanya Rumbar in downtown La did in a tasting 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.520 event with Eldorado. I'm a part time brand ambassador for them. 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:57.360 They're out of Guyana. We could talk all about their 0:14:57.400 --> 0:14:59.760 amazing wooden stills from the seventeen thirties in a different 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:02.800 point in time, but Eldorado is a classic example of 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:05.800 for the longest time they had and brought to market 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:11.120 RUMs with very sweet syrupy profiles where you know carmel. 0:15:11.800 --> 0:15:13.920 I'm assuming there was some sort of sugar or something, 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:16.280 but very surpy when you taste it. So we tried 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.480 the first one from an old blend of bottle that 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:20.480 I found collecting dust on a shelf. It's like ten 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.160 years sitting there. Still good. Alcohol doesn't go bad. The 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:26.120 first one everybody tasted, everyone was like, yeah, this is 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:28.520 pretty surpy, this is pretty pretty smooth, pretty light. Then 0:15:28.560 --> 0:15:30.880 we went to a different year, an eight year aged 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.840 expression of theirs with no sugar added, and then everybody 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:35.520 could tell the night and day difference. Then we went 0:15:35.560 --> 0:15:38.360 to an older blend of a fifteen year that they 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:41.320 did that was finished in dry madeira wine casks, madeira 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:43.720 which is very sweet. Also with the old process of 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:46.840 how Eldorado used to do things. So we went very sweet, 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:51.040 very smooth, no alcoholic burn to the alcoholic burn because 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:52.680 of the lack of sugar. And then we went back 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:55.880 and then we finished at fifty eight percent and we 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:59.240 basically yo yod. But the whole point is, I think 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:03.520 as well for the market for the longest time, you know, 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:08.640 Ronza kop Out of Guatemala really reintroduced this whole premiumization 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:10.040 of rum. And I'm doing the air quots. I'm not 0:16:10.040 --> 0:16:11.920 saying it's a bad rum. I mean a lot of 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.240 purists out there don't like it because of the sugar content, 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.000 et cetera. But Zakappa was the. 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:18.600 First add a little sweetened to that. Right, it's a 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:20.880 little sweeter than most. Yeah. Yeah, they don't have to 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:23.320 disclose though, correct me ever wrong, it's like two percent. 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.440 Anything under two percent in any spirit. By the way, 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:28.840 because there are a lot of your favorite tequila's out there, 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.040 I won't name names, but a lot of them that 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:33.640 have hints of vanilla, hints of that. If you look 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.920 at the back, it'll say this. No, they're adding that 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.160 to the drink. They just don't have to disclose it 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.560 after too less. It's under it's under two percent. 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:44.920 One hundred percent. And that really speaks to just not 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:47.440 only just the rum category, but since we're talking rum, 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:51.280 I don't know, ten, ten twenty years ago, Zakappa was 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:55.600 seen as the bee's knees. Everybody was drinking sweeter RUMs. 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.440 They were drinking lighter RUMs. And now for the people 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:01.520 that are have gone down the rabbit hole, they typically 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:06.000 like unadulterated. They like higher proof. Where I've ended up 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.600 for myself is it's like burger king, have it your way, No, 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:12.879 you want to basically just you want to enjoy it. 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:15.399 And Richard Ceo from the four quart of Siler and 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:17.840 Barbados has always said, and I really like this, Drink 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.280 what you like, but know what you're drinking. And so 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.960 for the undiscerning palettes, where I tell anybody to start 0:17:23.960 --> 0:17:28.680 with rum, because the whiskey comparison I'll make is when 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.640 you're trying Scotch, you start with monkey shoulder. You don't 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:34.280 start with lagavulin. And the same thing with rum. So 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.800 if you've only ever had Captain Morgan and you're expecting 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:40.320 something sweet, diplomatico is a great place to start because 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:42.760 those were a little sweeter. And then you can jump 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.159 over to something like if we're going to focus on 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:49.240 the quote unquote Latin style aka column still lighter styles, 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:53.439 dounku a Puerto Rico is amazing. I love them Florida 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.560 Kanye as well, because Florida Kanye doun Q they're not 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:59.239 adding any sugar or anything, so those are drier. So 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.399 that's the entry point. Then you can go to Palm 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:06.439 Republic Dark anybody, or the Palm Republic Silver and Barbados, 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:08.520 Saint Lucia. There's a number of different places. So where 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.400 I'm focused is really helping people on in their journey 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:13.720 because you do need those stepping stones. You can't just 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:16.400 say cool, yeah, you've only ever had Captain Morgan. Well, 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:19.200 here's this sixty two percent rum from Barbados that you 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:21.119 should drink. Because all the events I do and I 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:23.399 try to have people drink cask strength rum or barrel 0:18:23.440 --> 0:18:26.520 proof rum. People always go they wins, and they go, 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:30.800 oh god, am I supposed to like this? Well eventually, 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:32.639 but if you never end up getting there, that's fine. 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:35.119 Like rum is a journey, alcohol is a journey, but 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:40.719 so the spirits. I guess in my adhd rant consumers 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:45.640 and their profiles have certainly changed, and people are demanding 0:18:45.640 --> 0:18:48.959 at least transparency, and you have discerning consumers that I 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.879 like to think, I know you and myself and so 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:55.560 many others are really drinking to appreciate again, the passion 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.679 and the science that are married together by the people 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:03.119 who love what they do. It's not about taking shots. 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:05.560 It's not about you know, going super hard every day. 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:08.720 We couldn't you know in this alcohol business. And so 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:12.280 I think that people becoming more aware of appreciating what 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:16.639 they're tasting and demanding transparency in those discerning palettes is 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:20.320 helping shift the market. Hasn't stopped a lot of brands 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.040 from continuing to add, And I think that's because people 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:25.520 still like sweet. 0:19:25.320 --> 0:19:28.399 Because it's more palatable to the average person, right, And 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:31.000 I think that's what And even me to your point, 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:32.879 like when I started just on any even on bourbons 0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:36.000 and whiskeys, I started, you know, a regular proof, right, 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.680 it was made proof, that's all it was. And as 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:41.919 you go down the journey, you start going you know, 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.240 I don't like when I order a cocktail and I 0:19:44.240 --> 0:19:46.520 don't really actually taste the alcohol, like did they put 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:48.480